Manchester United vs. Wigan: Preview, Live Stream, Start Time and Schedule

Forget about post-Christmas shopping. Boxing Day is all about English Premier League football.

Just ask Manchester United, who will welcome Wigan to Old Trafford on Monday as they continue their pursuit of Manchester City atop the table. The Red Devils are undefeated in league play since getting drubbed by their "noisy neighbors" in late October.

The Latics, meanwhile, are still wallowing in the relegation zone, though Roberto Martinez's side has pulled itself up by its bootstraps of late, with five points over its last three fixtures.

Man U outscored Wigan 6-0 while claiming victory in both editions of this lesser Manchester derby last season.

Where: Old Trafford, Manchester, England

When: Monday, December 26th at 10:00 a.m. EST

Watch: ESPN Deportes, ESPN2, Sportsnet World, Sport TV1, ESPN HD Brasil, ESPN +, ESPN + Andina, ESPN Venezuela, ESPN Caribbean, Abu Dhabi Sports, GOL Television, Digi Sport Hungary, Tring Sport 1, Diema,Sport1, ESPN Latin America North, SuperSport 5, Sky Calcio 2, J Sports 2, SK Prime Serbia, SuperSport 5 Nigeria, SuperSport 5 Africa, Viasat Sport, SuperSport Internet 5, Canal+ Sport 1, Viasat Xtra Premier League 3, DIGI sport Cz, Digi Sport 1 Romania

Live Stream: ESPN3

Player to Watch for Manchester United: Wayne Rooney

Wayne Rooney appears to have found his form once again. The star striker has notched four goals in his last three appearances after being held scoreless in eight matches. That brings Wazza's total to 13 goals on the season after putting through nine scores during his first five outings.

Rooney's streak of fearless play isn't likely to halt against Wigan, a club that he's plagued to the tune of 10 goals and eight assists in 13 career matches, all of which have resulted in wins.

Player to Watch for Wigan: Jordi Gomez

Like Rooney for Man U, Jordi Gomez has come on strong for Wigan in recent weeks. The 26-year-old Spanish midfielder has taken to scoring, with goals in four of his last six appearances for the Latics, during which the club has lost just once.

Among those goals for Gomez was an 88th-minute equalizer against Chelsea at DW Stadium to give Wigan a point against the EPL powerhouse.

Key Matchup: Wazza vs. Gary Caldwell

Though the Latics' scoring has picked up of late, their only chance of competing with a high-scoring club like Man U is to find a way to slow down the opposition's attack.

That task will fall to centre-back Gary Caldwell, who did a marvelous job of holding down Luis Suarez during Wigan's scoreless draw with Liverpool on Wednesday and was pleasantly effective against Juan Mata against Chelsea before that.

Of course, Rooney is an entirely different beast for Caldwell to handle—a more traditional, physical English centre-forward. Wazza will be as tough a cover as he's ever been now that he's back in peak form, though Wigan will be hard-pressed to stay within shouting distance of United if Caldwell proves incapable of keeping him in check.

What They're Saying

Sir Alex Ferguson's side has been plagued by injuries this season, with Friday bringing mixed results for the Red Devils.

According to ESPN Soccernet, versatile defender Phil Jones will be fit for action on Boxing Day against Wigan after getting clocked in the jaw against Fulham. The same cannot be said, however, for Ashley Young. The winger, formerly of Aston Villa, took a knock to his knee amidst United's 5-0 win over the Cottagers and is expected to miss 2-3 weeks as a result.

Fergie spoke about Young's injury:

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"It's not so good for Ashley Young. We're still waiting on some of the bleeding to go away, which is quite extensive at the moment. It was a sore one so he'll be out for a few weeks.

"Ashley was tripped as he went into the next tackle. He wasn't positioned to go into that next tackle—he was half-falling at the time. The second tackle was a hard tackle—not a bad tackle—it was just the way he went into Ashley. He's taken a real clump."

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The Latics are much more concerned with those who will take to the pitch for the Red Devils, namely Wayne Rooney. Wigan boss Robert Martinez had nothing but praise for Wazza in speaking to Mirror Football:

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“Wayne is one of the best players in the world. To have a player who can score from nothing makes a difference and he is one.

“Those type of players are unique. They are also the type of players who can make the difference to winning or not winning the title.”

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Prediction: Manchester United 3, Wigan 0

Wigan will be hard-pressed to replicate the defensive success they enjoyed against Chelsea and Liverpool when they stroll into Old Trafford on Monday. Man U may be shorthanded, but they still sport more than enough high-powered attacking talent to make a laugher of this match against the Latics.

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